The lead prosecutor in the forced-labor prosecution against Alec and Mike Sou of Aloun Farms was excused from the trial Tuesday when she complained of chest pains and said she felt like she was about to pass out, according to a transcript of the bench conference among the judge and attorneys.

The departure of Susan French, the Justice Department’s civil rights lawyer from Washington, D.C., signaled that the prosecution’s case was running into problems.

It prompted Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Cushman to ask for a recess in the case until Friday to enable other Justice Department lawyers to fly in from Washington, D.C., to assist in the case.

Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway recessed the case for the afternoon but ordered Cushman to continue presenting witnesses the following day.

Two days later, on Thursday, Cushman dropped the bombshell asking for the dismissal of all charges against the Sous "in the interest of justice."

A Justice Department spokeswoman said the reason was that the prosecution reviewed documents received from the defense on July 29 and determined it could not prove the Sous’ guilt.

The spokeswoman would not elaborate or comment further on the case.